Listen to Your Body

When Ashwin asked me to do a guest post for his month long series on nutrition, I was a little reluctant since I knew I was no expert. But later when I thought about it, I realised that all living beings are experts in nutrition and food. Here is a short post on listening to your body and understanding what it needs!

Food is the main source of energy that keeps us alive. Sometimes though we know that some things are bad for our health, we go ahead and do it – especially with foods. Bad decision making, low self control, ineffective thinking; you can call it any of this. But I truly believe that our body gives us signals as to what food to eat and what to avoid, based on our requirements and aiding it is our five senses.

Smell : I guess that’s the first sense that works its magic on us

Sight : Any food plated well, almost always seem to taste good. Most good restaurateurs know that and play well in this area

Sound : If you ask an experienced chef, he will tell you the sounds are a good measure to gauge level of cooking

Touch : Texture, the sound and the feel are all experienced with the hand before it reaches the final sense of taste.

Taste : Tongue senses the last and most important aspect of food – taste. It helps in getting the best food into our systems

I have always had a strong liking for jaggery, liver(mutton), dates and nuts. If you are a person who follows nutrition closely or just someone who is anaemic, you know that these foods are most recommended for a person with anaemia. Before even being clinically diagnosed with anaemia, my body/mind was sending signals to counter the need by taking iron rich food items.

Hence it is very important to listen to the signals that your body is sending out. That is the first step to better nutrition. If you are ready to listen to the body signs, you are already a step closer to healthy eating and improved nutrition.